UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab: We are at a delicate and dangerous stage of this crisis

Foreign minister Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he recovers from COVID-19, was pressed to reveal the government's thinking on how and when Britain might begin to see an easing of social distancing measures.

Key notes

• Raab says we are at a delicate and dangerous stage of this crisis, need to proceed cautiously.
• Raab says it would be irresponsible to speculate on specific, individual measures to ease lockdown.
• Raab says a second spike in infections and a second lockdown would be serious blow to public confidence, next step needs to be sure-footed.
• Raab says we are doing the homework on all of the areas to determine what the next phase will look like.
• Raab says we are going to see a big surge in testing in the next week, we are on track to hit 100,000 tests a day target.
• Raab says PM Boris Johnson will be back at work full-time, properly on Monday, he is raring to go.
• Raab, asked about rumours on north Korean leader Kim Jong-un, says he has no verified information on that.

The British government must not rush to ease the coronavirus lockdown and should act cautiously to avoid a second spike in infections and a second lockdown that would damage public confidence, its stand-in leader said on Sunday.

"We are at a delicate and dangerous stage and we need to make sure that the next steps are sure-footed," Raab told Sky news, adding that the government was "doing the homework" behind closed doors on what would happen in the next phase.

"It's not responsible to start speculating about the individual measures," he said, urging the public to stick to the current guidance, which is to stay at home except for essential travel.

GBP/USD update

• GBP/USD Forecast:  How long can it hold on? UK lockdowns and gloomy US data may bring it down